Tournament Highlights:
The Winner
• The 2009 World Series of Poker $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha champion is Jason Mercier, from Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
• Mercier is a 22-year-old professional poker player. He attended Florida Atlantic University for one year. He then transferred to a local community college and received his Associates Degree.
• Before turning pro, Mercier wanted to be a math teacher. But during a phase in which he worked as a substitute teacher, Mercier decided against that career plan. Mercier stated that he enjoys working with numbers, which led to him playing poker first recreationally and then full-time.
• Prior to joining the pro poker circuit, Mercier worked for a year coaching high school basketball.
• "Winning always feels good," Mercier stated in a post-tournament interview. "Especially after last year (2008 WSOP). I played in 22 events. I went deep in just one of them. I finished 13th and that made me sick. I cashed three times and all three times I busted out with the worst (starting) hand, in marginal spots. I was really upset with how I played last year. Now, it feels great to win a gold bracelet, especially so early in the Series."
• "Every time I enter a poker tournament, I think I can win it," Mercier said. Of course, you have to win some key pots."
• Mercier had some interesting strategic advice for those who play in both six-handed and nine-handed games. "I tend to play too many hands in early position....because I am used to playing in six-handed games online. But nine-handed games are very different," Mercier said. Today, I folded some hands in early position that I normally would have played. That got me into less bad spots. I was able to play position more and take down a lot of pots that I might (not have won otherwise).
• Mercier's poker name is "treysfull21."
• Mercier has enjoyed an astounding 14-month run. He cashed for the first time ever in a major poker tournament in April 2008. Since then, he has won five tournaments -- including two European Poker Tour championships and a WSOP gold bracelet. He already has accumulated $3,069,194 in career earnings, at age 22.
• Mercier made it to the final table at last year's WSOP-Europe Pot-Limit Omaha event. He finished in eighth place.
• Mercier is accustomed to fast-paced action. His first tournament victory at San Remo (European Poker Tour) still stands as the shortest final table in EPT history. His victory in this event clocked in at five hours, a relatively quick finale given the starting distribution of chips and tough lineup at the final table.
• Mercier collected $237,462 for first place. He was also awarded his first WSOP gold bracelet.
• Mercier stated that winning nearly a quarter-million dollars gives him more confidence and freedom. He stated that he has no specific plans for the money, other than to play in more tournaments in the future.
• Note: Mercier is not related to tournament pro Isabelle Mercier, from Quebec (Canada).
The Players
• The final table was comprised of two former WSOP gold bracelet winners - An Tran and Dario Alioto.
• The runner up was Steven Burkholder, from Largo, FL. He is a 22-year-old college student. Burkholder came to this year's WSOP in Las Vegas and is sharing a house with eight fellow online poker pros.
• Kevin Iacofano finished in third place. He is a 23-year-old poker pro, now living in Las Vegas. Iacofano is originally from Cleveland, OH. Before the start of the final table, Iacofano vowed to "break the Cleveland championship curse," referring to the fact that no Cleveland sports teams have won a championship since the 1964 Cleveland Browns (NFL).
• The fourth-place finisher was Matt Giannetti, from Las Vegas, NV. He is a former college student-turned-poker pro. Giannetti is primarily a cash game player and this was his best tournament finish ever.
• Christopher Biondino finished in fifth place. He is a 25-year-old pro poker player. Biondino is another cash game player who is now playing in more tournaments. He finished third in a WSOP Circuit event held at Caesars Palace Las Vegas tow months ago.
• The sixth-place finisher was Jonathan Tare, from New York, NY.
• The seventh-place finisher was former WSOP gold bracelet winner Dario Alioto, from Palermo, Sicily (Italy). Alioto won his gold bracelet at WSOP-Europe in 2007. Alioto is arguably the world's best Pot-Limit Omaha player over the past two years. He has achieved remarkable results in PLO events - taking seventh place in this event, 19th-place in last year's $10,000 buy-in PLO World Championship, fourth in another WSOP PLO event last year, and a win in PLO at WSOP-Europe.
• The eighth-place finisher was An "the Boss" Tran. He won his WSOP gold bracelet in 1991. Never one to be bothered by learning names, Tran is known as "the Boss," because he calls everyone he meets "Boss."
• The ninth-place finisher was Vic Park, from Los Angeles, CA.
• Former WSOP gold bracelet winners who cashed in this event included - Eric Froehlich (26th), Josh Arieh (31st), Alexander Kravchenko (52nd), Brent Carter (62nd), and Robert Mizrachi (67th).
• The defending champion (2008 winner) was Vanessa Selbst, from Brooklyn, NY. She did not enter this event.
Odds and Ends
• Pot-Limit Omaha is becoming increasingly more popular. Given increasing attendance ever single year for this event, it is arguably the second most popular form of poker behind various forms Hold'em. Consider the following WSOP turnouts the previous five years for this event:
2005 - 291 players
2006 - 526 players
2007 - 578 players
2008 - 758 players
2009 - 809 players
• Some of the most well-known previous champions in this event include:
Vanessa Selbst
Ralph Perry
Scott Clements
Barry Greenstein
Chau Giang
Prahlad Friedman
Galen Kester
Johnny Chan
• This tournament ended on Wednesday, June 3, 2009. On this day, there were seven WSOP tournaments being played simultaneously. This was the first time in history this has ever happened. Last year, there were many days when six tournaments were played. But seven live tournaments taking place in one day - all starting on time and without incident -- is a testament to the extraordinary planning and execution of WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel and his staff.
The Event
• The $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha event attracted 809 entrants. This created a prize pool totaling $1,104,285. The top 81finishers collected prize money.
• This is believed to be the largest live Pot-Limit Omaha tournament in poker history.
• The tournament was played over a three-day period. On the third day, three final tables were played simultaneously - the $10,000 buy-in Seven-Card Stud World Championship, the $1,000 buy-in Stimulus Special (No-Limit Hold'em), and this event. Because the main two stages were occupied with other events, this final table was played at an adjacent table. It attracted just as large a crowd, however. This made for an exciting finale, with lots of action.
• Kevin Iacofano arrived at the final table as the chip leader. However, he ended up as the third-place finisher.
• The final table started with chip counts as follows:
Seat 1 -- An Tran (445,000)
Seat 2 -- Jason Mercier (384,400)
Seat 3 -- Chris Biondino (182,000)
Seat 4 -- Matt Giannetti (311,000)
Seat 5 -- Kevin Iacofano (770,000)
Seat 6 -- Jonathan Tare (639,000)
Seat 7 -- Dario Alioto (315,000)
Seat 8 -- Vic Park (341,000)
Seat 9 -- Steven Burkholder (263,000)
• The final table lasted a relatively brisk five hours.
• On the final hand, all the money went in on the turn. Jason Mercier had Q-J-8-2. Steven Burkholder had A-A-J-7. Burkholder actually held the best hand at the time, with trip jacks and a better kicker. But a queen on the turn gave Mercier a full-house. After a blank fell on the river, Mercier was guaranteed his first WSOP gold bracelet.
• The tournament officially began on Monday, June 1st at 12:01 pm. The tournament officially ended on Wednesday, June 3rd at 9:00 pm.
WSOP Statistics
• Through the conclusion of Event #6, the 2009 WSOP has attracted 8,948 entries. $16,948,855 in prize money has been awarded to winners.
Errors and Omissions (Previous Reports):
• None
Note: All results are now official and may be reprinted by media.
The 2009 World Series of Poker's title sponsor is Jack Link's Beef Jerky. For more information, visit: www.jacklinks.com
World Series of Poker President and Commissioner - Jeffrey Pollack
Vice President of Sponsorship and Licensing -- Ty Stewart
Vive President of Broadcasting and New Media - Craig Abrahams
Director of Communications - Seth Palansky
Regional Vice President of Specialty Gaming -- Howard Greenbaum
WSOP Events Manager -- Angele Marshall
WSOP Marketing Manager - Elizabeth Anne Hill
WSOP Tournament Director - Jack Effel
About the World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is the largest, richest, and most prestigious gaming event in the world awarding millions of dollars in prize money and the prestigious gold bracelet, globally recognized as the sport's top prize. Featuring a comprehensive slate of tournaments in every major poker variation, the WSOP is poker's longest running tournament, dating back to 1970. In 2008, the event attracted 58,720 entrants from 124 different countries to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and awarded over $180 million in prize money. The creation of the new delayed Main Event final table more than doubled ratings on ESPN over the previous year. In December 2008 the WSOP was named the 7th most admired sports brand in North America by the Turnkey Sports Survey, trailing only the older and more established NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NASCAR and PGA Tour among sports properties. In addition, the WSOP has experienced groundbreaking alliances in broadcasting, digital media and corporate sponsorships, while successfully expanding the brand internationally with the advent of World Series of Poker EuropeSM in 2007. For more information on the World Series of Poker, please visit our website at: www.worldseriesofpoker.com or: www.twitter.com/wsop
Photo by IMPDI 2009
